Sports Round Up

Sports Round Up

Couldn’t make it to all the Blue Hose sporting events? Check out this round up and then click here for more information on all PC athletics.

Football: The 5-5 Blue Hose christened the brand-new stadium lights on Sept. 6 with a 69-14 win over Bluefield and then defeated No. 12 Furman 10-7 the next weekend to snap a 15-game losing streak to the Paladins. PC has also enjoyed wins over Western Carolina (19-14), Charleston Southern (7-3) and Monmouth (18-12). The four wins at Bailey Stadium stands as the most home wins since 2011. LaQua Mayes was named the College Sports Madness Big South Offensive Player of the Week for racking up 161 yards and two touchdowns against Bluefield. Defensive back DaRon Dickey was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week and USA College Football Defensive Honorable Mention, while punter Stephen Doar was named Special Teams Player of the Week and USA College Football National Punter of the Week for their performances in the win over Furman. The Blue Hose defense was selected as the Big South Defensive Player of the Week for its performance in the win over Western Carolina, while safety Ed Britt was named the College Sports Madness Big South Defensive Player of the Week and defensive lineman Deonte’ Davis earned College Sports Performance Honorable Mention for their efforts in the same win. In the victory over No. 22 Charleston Southern, Ugonna Akoh was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week for his performance, while Dickey earned College Sports Madness National Defensive Player of the Week and the Blue Hose defense was the named the FCS Defense of the Week. Dickey earned another honor in the win over Monmouth when he picked up his second College Sports Madness Defensive Player of the Week honor. Akoh, a 3.87 chemistry major, earned a spot on the 2014 CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Team on Nov. 10. The team closes out the regular season on Saturday against Gardner-Webb.

Men’s Soccer: The Blue Hose wrapped up the 2014 season with an overall record of 1-14. Senior Ignacio Monchetti was named to the Big South All-Academic Team and named a CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District winner, while senior Brett Godwin was named to the College Sports Madness Big South All-Conference Second Team. Sophomore Matthew McManis led the team in scoring, including the two goals he scored in the 2-1 win over the 2013 Southern Conference regular-season champions, Wofford. Junior goalkeeper Johnny Archer earned Big South Defensive Player of the Week for recording six saves in that win.

Women’s Soccer: The Blue Hose finished the season with a 3-13-3 overall record. The season was highlighted by a 5-1 win over Alabama State in which freshman Sarah Yoss scored four second-half goals, a 1-0 shutout over USC Upstate, and a 1-0 double overtime win over SC State in which sophomore Kristen Peagler scored the game-winner with eight seconds left. Junior Sophie Cobb earned Big South Honorable Mention All-Conference honors, while Yoss, who led the team with six goals this season, made the All-Freshman Team. Senior Christy Schofer was named to the Big South All-Academic Team.

Men’s Cross Country: Junior Reid McCandless led the men’s cross country team in five of six races this fall and had the teams fastest 8K time with a personal-record of 29:35 at the Disney Classic. McCandless was the top finisher at the Big South Championship on Nov. 1, placing 59th with a time of 30:46. After the Championship race, McCandless, an English major, was named to the 2014 Big South All-Academic Team. Sophomore Chris Sacco was PC’s No. 2 runner for most of the season, running a personal-best time of 30:10 at the Disney Classic and was the team’s No. 1 finisher at the Big South Championship with a time of 30:45 to take 58th.

Women’s Cross Country: Senior Gabriele Lesieur led the Blue Hose at the Big South Championships on Nov. 1 with a time of 20:38, good for 48th place. Lesieur holds a school record for leading the team in 22-straight races and her performance at the Conference Championships was the highest individual finish for the program in the Division-I era. Lesieur, a biology major, was named to the 2014 Big South All-Academic Team at the conclusion of the race.  Freshman Bea DiBona was PC’s No. 2 runner all season, running a personal-best time of 20:23 to place 65th at the Upstate Invitational.

Volleyball: Through all but the last game of the season, the Blue Hose are 12-14 overall and 7-6 in the Big South Conference. Throughout the season, seniors Kelly Berryman and Rachel Hall were named Big South Players of the Week and Berryman was named Defensive Player of the Week. Hall leads the team with 297 kills, while Berryman has 199 kills and a team-high 24 solo blocks. Senior Mary Trimpe leads the team in digs with 463 while senior Ashtin Frank has 893 assists. The team’s final regular-season match of the season will be on Friday Nov. 14 against Winthrop. The Big South Conference tournament runs from Nov. 20-23.

Men’s Basketball: The Blue Hose open the season on Friday against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Following the game at Duke, PC opens the home schedule against Piedmont on Nov. 18 at the Templeton Center at 7:30 p.m. in a men’s-women’s basketball double header. The Blue Hose will then continue playing in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Nov. 21-23 in Ruston, La. when they take on American, Morehead State, and Louisiana Tech. PC opens up Big South Conference play on Dec. 31 when they host Gardner-Webb at 6 p.m.

Women’s Basketball: PC kicks off the 2014-15 season on the road this weekend when they take on Old Dominion on Friday at 7 p.m. and VCU on Sunday at 1 p.m. The team opens the 13-game home schedule the following week on Nov. 18 when they host Allen at the Templeton Center at 5 p.m. in a men’s-women’s basketball double header. The Blue Hose start Big South Conference play on Dec. 2 when they host Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.